Solitude Aeturnus
Adagio

A true guarantee. After getting acquainted with this American doom group and listening to their first five albums, I can affirm that this band is a true guarantee when it comes to doom, particularly American doom. From their debut in 1990 with the album "Into the depths of sorrow," to other great works like "Beyond the crimson horizon" and "Through the darkest hour," the Solitude Aeturnus have consistently proven their great musical attitude, creating full-lengths of absolute significance.

Adagio is the fifth studio album by the band, released by the label Massacre Records in 1998. Compared to the lineup of Downfall (released two years earlier), the only change concerns the bass: Lyle is replaced by Steve Mosley. Everything else remains as per the script, with the solid voice of singer and leader Robert Lowe directing the orchestra. A compact orchestra formed by the remaining four members who, although they do not achieve the critical success of previous masterpieces, still manage to keep the band on the pedestal of American doom.

A vaguely dreamlike cover for this fifth work, which is still decidedly influenced by the existentialism of the lyrics: absurdity of life and the human condition, human and global suffering, religion, and partly also philosophical themes are the topics most "studied" by Solitude Aeturnus. These are fundamental elements of the band's mindset, reflected in the sonic compactness of "Days of prayer", classically and pleasantly built just for this. An oriental rhythm for "Believe", another demonstration of the band's excellent ability to create heavy and melodic tracks on which the singer's evocative voice can rest. A separate discussion should be made for "Personal god", born on a good musical basis but, in my opinion, "ruined" by the filtered voice that Lowe uses in this piece. Then again, excellent doom with "Mental pictures" and "Insanity's circle", although the glories of songs like "Shattered my spirit," "Pain," and "The final sin" (just to name a few) are still too distant.

The album continues on these coordinates of excellent doom/heavy: a more direct sound and somewhat less slow than the first three works, following the path begun with the previous work Downfall. Worth mentioning is the short sepulchral ballad "The fall", in which the voice is provided by the guitarist John Perez, and the closing "Heaven and hell" cover of the forefathers Black Sabbath.

Adagio brings nothing new under the sun for the Arlington band, which instead of experimenting, decided to re-propose the sound so dear to them. Perhaps there is a lack of a pinch of originality, but the musical proposal is, once again, of an excellent compositional level, and this album has only reconfirmed them as one of the best entities in the genre. Rating: 3 and a half.

1. "My Endtime" (00:48)
2. "Days Of Prayer" (6:10)
3. "Believe" (5:51)
4. "Never" (2:53)
5. "Idis" (5:40)
6. "Personal God" (5:01)
7. "Mental Pictures" (4:58)
8. "Insanity's Circles" (6:05)
9. "The Fall" (2:28)
10. "Lament" (5:42)
11. "Empty Faith" (3:58)
12. "Spiral Descent" (7:07)
13. "Heaven And Hell" (6:13)